John Worthen

An illuminating biography of a republican convicted of regicide, drawing on the letters he wrote from within the Tower of London. Henry Marten — soldier, member of parliament, organiser of the trial of Charles I, and signatory of the King’s death warrant — is today a neglected figure of the seventeenth century. Yet his life was both extraordinary and emblematic:...

Reveals the passion, humour, and humanity of Brahms behind the myth. Johannes Brahms is often cast as repressed or emotionally distant. This nuanced biography by acclaimed biographer John Worthen reveals a more complex and human figure – brilliant, passionate, and deeply committed both to his art and to those he loved. Brahms’s lifelong devotion to Clara Schumann shaped much of...

Shattering longstanding myths, this new biography reveals the robust and positive life of one of the nineteenth century's greatest composers. This candid, intimate, and compellingly written new biography offers a fresh account of Robert Schumann’s life. It confronts the traditional perception of the doom-laden Romantic, forced by depression into a life of helpless, poignant sadness. John Worthen’s scrupulous attention to...